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In the closing week of the 2016 Presidential elections, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump returned to Pensacola for a third time. At the Nov. 2 rally, Trump made one of his final pitches to his pa

Trump’s final rally in Pensacola ended with a fireworks display across the bay.

nhandle supporters during this election cycle.

To open his speech, he appeared to parrot advice from his aids to “stay cool” and stay on message. While his speech was more toned down compared to others, it still contained the same rhetoric that his supporters came to hear; attacks on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, job creation, and another plug for the proposed border wall.

The packed Bayfront Amphitheater, which holds 10,000 was filled to capacity, something that Trump is counting on in this election. Florida’s 29 electoral votes are considered a must win for him to clinch the presidency on Tuesday.

Although Northwest Florida is usually a reliable republican strong hold, he needs to attract a larger base. To do that, he needs support from long time GOP voters, as well as a new coalition of younger voters.

“I think he will help grow the economy, so there will be more jobs for us after college,” freshman Brett Farran said.

“The president will be making decisions that impact us for the next four years, especially as a freshman, I’ll have him throughout all of college, and if you don’t vote you’re saying that you’re okay with the older generation telling you who is in charge of you, by voting, you are saying that I am going to decide who leads me.”

Those sentiments were held by other students who attended the rally.

“After passing 18-19, you start to develop your own opinion on political stuff and world issues,” senior history major Caleb Pascoe said.

“I really started listening to more of what he had to say, and even though he is a little more on the bombastic side of things, he’s starting to become a lot more professional and he’s focusing his energy in the right place.”

Pascoe also had the opportunity to drive in Trump’s motorcade to the amphitheater. He personally transported Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, husband of Ivanka Trump.

Trump ended the event, and likely his campaigning in the panhandle, with a bang. A dazzling fireworks show over the Escambia Bay, was shown as Trump headed off to other battle ground states to sure up support in his race to the White House.

Now, as the rallies come to an end and the candidates gives their closing arguments, the power shifts to the voter.

“100 percent, no matter who you vote for, go out and vote,” Pascoe said. “It’s a right and a duty. It’s innate to the American character.

“It takes like 10 minutes; you could order a pizza, go vote, and then pick up the pizza. Just get out and vote, it’s the most American thing you could do.”

Election Day is Nov 8. and polling locations and voter info for Escambia County residents can be found here.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is set to return to the Pensacola Bay Center for a campaign stop at 7 p.m. on Sept. 9.

Trump sold out the stadium just eight months ago, leaving for promising results when it

comes to predicting the turnout. But taking into account Florida’s history as a swing state,

a sizable crowd will not guarantee anything for the nominee.

According to an article on CNN’s website, the close to three million independent voters in Florida are what create its unpredictable stance. It is precedent that Trump win over the Florida Panhandle in

order to acquire the state’s vote.

His first visit brought discussion on immigration, gun rights, the proposed border wall, and a man who allegedly blocked a bullet with his pocket-sized bible.

“He made very engaging arguments pertaining to foreign affairs and the United States relationship with both Mexico and the Middle East,” said construction management major Jake Craft, who attended Trump’s January campaign stop. “I am convinced that if there is anyone that is economically savvy enough to ameliorate our current financial standing, it’s Trump.”

Craft also said that Trump could lose trust from his tendency to “crowd please.”

Other students, like junior art history major Madison Murphy, are disgruntled by Trump’s return.

A wide variety of Trump promotional items were sold in the parking lot at his January Rally. Photo by Cassie Rhame.

“I wish he wasn’t coming here. I wish he didn’t visit anywhere. I wish he wasn’t running for president,” said Murphy who will not be attending the event.

The USA Freedom Kids, who performed during Trump’s last visit to the Bay Center, will not be returning. The manager of the group, Jeff Popick, is said to be planning on suing the Trump administration regarding empty promises for future performances by the girls, according to the Pensacola News Journal’s website.

“I remember there being way more people than I thought there would be (at the January rally),” said Pensacola local Freddie Haydn-Slater. “I don’t have a strong opinion on Trump, but I will be going on Friday just to see what all goes down.”

Lines were wrapped around the stadium for his January visit, so plan to arrive early if you attend. Tickets are free, and available for reservation here.

The 2016 race for the presidency is well under way in the United States, and so far it has been wrought with mudslinging, half-truths and outright lies, and even has devolved further into thinly-veiled allegations and petty name-calling. Instead of thoroughly discussing the issues facing America today, the debates often entail several candidates talking at the same time with each one determined to be the loudest.

The Florida primaries are this Tuesday, March 15, and many voters will be forced to cast their ballot without truly understanding what each candidate wants for the future of America. The voters are not to blame for this miscarriage of justice, but nevertheless they are the ones who will suffer the consequences of it.

The Voyager has created this guide for you to study each candidate and his or her stance on the issues of utmost importance before you cast a vote this Tuesday. Deciding what issues are essential to the running of this country is a daunting task in itself, because in one way or another they are all important, but it is imperative that a few be chosen to concentrate on. The problems facing the world today are too numerous to hope that a single candidate will agree with everyone’s opinions for each issue.

Once the key issues have been decided upon, it is time to research what the candidates think about each one. This, too, can be daunting, because, as the old saying goes, “all politicians lie,” and it can be hard for voters to determine when a candidate actually is lying. Fortunately, in this modern age, we have the Internet, where information can be accessed effortlessly, and several organizations exist to provide citizens with information.

If winning a Pulitzer price is any indication of merit, PolitiFact is one such organization that can be trusted. PolitiFact is a division of the newspaper Tampa Bay Times, a self-described “independent fact-checking journalism website aimed at bringing you the truth in politics.” All the information provided lists sources to validate its authenticity.

On The Issues is a nonpartisan website also dedicated to providing “information for voters in the Presidential election, so that votes can be based on issues rather than on personalities and popularity,” according to its mission statement. The staff conducts research using documents such as debate transcripts, voting records, statements to the media and citations from books authored by the candidate in order to formulate their findings.

The research cited in this article was traced back to the original sources for all of the information contained here. References are provided in the conclusion for those who wish to do their own digging. This article has attempted to simplify the material on each candidate, with the goal of making your voting experience easier by proving accurate information on each candidate.

THE REPUBLICANS

Donald Trump, 69, is a real estate developer and businessman well known for his television personality and superb entrepreneurial skills. Unlike the other candidates, Trump lacks a background in government affairs, leading some to call him a “breath of fresh air” from the usual contenders who are constantly ingrained in Washington politics. However, this notable lack of experience with the inner workings of the government has some claiming that Trump is inept to deal with most of the traditional duties performed by the president.

As shown in the above graphic, Trump currently leads in the polls with 458 delegates (as of March 11), leaving him 779 delegates away from the Republican nomination for president. Despite his apparent success, PolitiFact has found that most of the statements made by Trump were either “false” or “pants on fire” false, which is their way of saying a totally invented fabrication. For the “true” declarations made by Trump, a dismal 1 percent of the judged statements fall under this category. So what does Trump actually think about the issues?

ABORTION: “The biggest problem I have with Planned Parenthood is the abortion situation. I mean it’s like an abortion factory, frankly, and you can’t have it and you shouldn’t be funding it. It shouldn’t be funded by the government.”— Aug. 11, 2015, in an interview with CNN.

HEALTH CARE: “The one thing we have to do is repeal and replace ObamaCare. It is a disaster. People’s premiums are going up 35 percent, 45 percent, 55 percent. Their deductibles are so high nobody’s ever going to get to use it. So ObamaCare is turning out to be a bigger disaster than anybody thought.” — Oct. 25, 2015, in an interview with Martha Raddatz of “ABC This Week.”

IMMIGRATION: “We are a country of laws. We need borders. We will have a wall [on the Mexican border]. The wall will be built. The wall will be successful. And if you think walls don’t work, all you have to do is ask Israel. The wall works, believe me. Properly done. Believe me.”— Nov. 10, 2015, in an interview with Fox Business.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, 45, has experience in Congress after accumulating several years of service in the U.S. Senate. Cruz is currently trailing behind Trump in the polls with 359 delegates of the total 1,237 required to win the Republican nomination. As seen in the graphic above, most of Cruz’s statements have been judged to be almost 60 percent false by PolitiFact. His numbers are an improvement on Trump’s results, but they still leave room for voters to question his sincerity.

FOREIGN POLICY: “What we need is a commander in chief that makes clear, if you join ISIS, if you wage jihad on America, then you are signing your death warrant. I introduced the Expatriate Terrorist Act that said if any American travels to the Middle East and joins ISIS, that he or she forfeits their citizenship so they don’t use a passport to come back and wage jihad on Americans.” —Aug. 16, 2015, in an interview with Fox News.

EDUCATION: “We need to repeal Common Core. We need to get the federal government out of the business of dictating educational standards. Education is far too important for it to be governed by unelected bureaucrats in Washington. It should be at the state level or even better at the local level. ”— at the Heritage Foundation’s Conservative Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., January 2015.

GUN CONTROL: “The right to self-defense is an essential component of the liberty we enjoy as Americans and is embodied in the Second Amendment. From successfully protecting law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights at the Supreme Court, to defeating legislation that sought to take away this right, I have always championed the right to keep and bear arms.” — statement on his official campaign website.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, 44, is a practiced attorney, politician and junior senator from the state of Florida. Rubio has dabbled in many occupational fields over the years, such as teaching and founding a law firm, which has afforded him a different perspective than the other candidates. His solid background in all things politics comes from years of working his way up the latter in the House of Representatives and the Senate alike.

Most of Rubio’s statements are a mix between “mostly true,” “half true,” and “mostly false,” according to the results of PolitiFact’s findings, pictured in the graphic above. In comparison to his fellow Republican running mates, Rubio shows more balance between what he says and what he means. Out of the three Republican contenders, Rubio does the best to sticking to the truth, which is an admirable quality in a politician.

ABORTION: “There is no doubt that a woman has a right to her own body, has a right to make decisions about her own health and her own future. There’s no doubt. And then, there’s this other right. And that’s the right of a human being to live. And these rights come into conflict when it comes to this issue. And, so, you have to make a decision … But when asked to make a decision between two very hard circumstances, I’ve personally reached the conclusion if I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life. I’ll support any legislation that reduces the number of abortions.” — Aug. 9, 2015, at a Meet The Press interview.

JOBS: “If I thought that raising the minimum wage was the best way to help people increase their pay, I would be all for it, but it isn’t. In the 20th century, it’s a disaster. If you raise the minimum wage, you’re going to make people more expensive than a machine. And that means all this automation that’s replacing jobs and people right now is only going to be accelerated. Here’s the best way to raise wages: Make America the best place in the world to start a business or expand an existing business.” — Nov. 10, 2015, at a First Tier debate hosted by Fox Business.

GUN CONTROL: “My position on guns is pretty clear. I believe law-abiding people have a fundamental, constitutional right to bear arms. And I believe criminals and dangerous people should not have access to guns. There are laws that protect those two things — but many of these [additional] gun laws are ineffective. They don’t do those things. They either infringe on the rights of law-abiding people and do nothing to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. And I’m troubled this debate is about guns. It should be about violence. Violence is the problem, guns are what they’re using. We are missing a golden opportunity to have an open, honest and serious conversation about these horrific violent acts, because everyone’s focused on passing these laws that have proven ineffective.” — April 14, 2013, at an interview with CNN SOTU.

THE DEMOCRATS

Hillary Clinton, 68, is the former U.S. Secretary of State, a position she held for the first four years of the Obama administration. Clinton’s resume also includes a stint on the Senate, as well as eight years of holding the title of first lady. Her previous roles in the White House give her a level of expertise that her competitors lack. She knows what it takes to be president from watching her husband experience it, and she has felt the enormous amount of pressure it can cause. One thing to be certain about Clinton is that she knows exactly what she is walking into by becoming president. While the other candidates might have an idea of what all it entails, they still lack the actual experience of living through it as she did.

Clinton is currently leading in the polls with 760 of the 2,383 delegate votes needed to win the Democratic nomination. This figure does not include the superdelegates, where Clinton has a substantial lead, because their votes can still be changed.

In stark contrast to her Republican counterparts, most of Clinton’s statements have been judged as “true” or “mostly true” by PolitiFact. However, while Clinton’s statements may be true, that does not mean that the inferences she makes from them are always correct. The way one person interprets facts can vary from someone else; it all depends on the individual’s point of view and life experiences. Regardless, Clinton’s statements to the public can be considered relatively true and trustworthy.

ENVIRONMENT: “Today I am announcing a comprehensive strategy to modernize American energy infrastructure and forge a new partnership with Canada and Mexico to combat climate change across the continent, unleashing billions in investment, delivering reliable and affordable energy, protecting the health of our families and communities, and creating good-paying jobs and careers.” — Sept. 23, 2015, in a blog post entitled “Why I oppose Keystone XL.”

EDUCATION: “[The Common Core] wasn’t politicized. It was to try to come up with a core of learning that we might expect students to achieve across our country, no matter what kind of school district they were in, no matter how poor their family was that there wouldn’t be two tiers of education. Everybody would be looking at what would be learned doing their best to achieve that.” — April 16, 2015, at her first official campaign event in Iowa, via C-SPAN.

DRUGS: “I think that we have the opportunity through the states that are pursuing recreational marijuana to find out a lot more than we know today. I do support the use of medical marijuana, and I think even there we need to do a lot more research so that we know exactly how we’re going to help people for whom medical marijuana provides relief. So, I think we’re just at the beginning, but I agree completely with the idea that we have got to stop imprisoning people who use marijuana. Therefore, we need more states, cities, and the federal government to begin to address this so that we don’t have this terrible result of a huge population in our prisons for nonviolent, low-level offenses that are primarily due to marijuana. ”— Oct. 13, 2015, at the CNN Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, 74, previously caucused with Democrats before actually joining the party in 2015. Sanders was the longest-serving independent in U.S. Congressional history before he switched parties.

Sanders has been a long-time defender of civil rights, from his early days as a political activist while attending the University of Chicago to his many careers after graduating college. Sanders’ political conquests include a mayorship, becoming a member of the House of Representatives, and eventually being elected to the U.S. Senate. Sanders is currently behind Clinton in the polls with 546 of the needed 2,383 delegate votes to win the Democratic nomination. This figure does not include the superdelegates, because their votes can still be changed, where Clinton has a substantial lead over Sanders. Like his fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, most of Sanders’ statements have been judged to be “true,” “mostly true,” and “half true” by PolitiFact.

CIVIL RIGHTS: “Black lives matter. The African-American community knows that on any given day some innocent person like Sandra Bland can get into a car, and three days later she’s dead in jail. We need to combat institutional racism from top to bottom, and we need major reforms in a broken criminal justice system. I intend to make sure people have education and jobs rather than jail cells.” — Oct. 13, 2015, at the CNN Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas.

ECONOMY: “Millionaires and billionaires are pouring unbelievable sums of money into the political process in order to fund super PACs and to elect candidates who represent their interests, not the interests of working people. What this campaign is about is whether we can mobilize our people to take back our government from a handful of billionaires and create the vibrant democracy we know we can and should have. It is immoral and wrong that the top 1/10 of 1 percent in this country own almost 90 percent – almost — own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. That it is wrong, today, in a rigged economy, that 57 percent of all new income is going to the top 1 percent.” — Oct. 13, 2015, at the CNN Democratic primaries in Las Vegas.

FOREIGN POLICY: “[Obama] is trying to defeat ISIS. He’s trying to get rid of this horrendous dictator, Assad. But at the same time, he doesn’t want our troops stuck on the ground. And I agree with that. But I am maybe a little bit more conservative on this than he is. I worry that once we get sucked into this, once some of our troops get killed and once maybe a plane gets shot down, that we send more in and more in. But I will say this. ISIS must be defeated primarily by the Muslim nations in that region. America can’t do it all. And we need an international coalition. Russia should be part of it — U.K., France, the entire world – supporting Muslim troops on the ground, fighting for the soul of Islam and defeating this terrible ISIS organization.” — Nov. 8, 2015, during an interview on “ABC This Week.”

The Florida primaries are approaching fast; only those who are registered as a Republican or Democrat (not Independent) may participate. This vote will determine the two main candidates who will be in the running for the presidency, so its importance cannot be denied.

For those who are unsure of which candidate they agree with, take the ISideWith quiz to see which candidate best reflects your beliefs.

The information provided in this article has been verified and fact-checked. Links to the various sites where this information can be found are listed below.

I am by no means a supporter of Donald Trump, one of the 11 main candidates campaigning to be the Republican nominee for president in the 2016 election. On Wednesday, I attended the Trump rally at the Pensacola Bay Center where he addressed both supporters and non-supporters about why he is right choice to be our nation’s next president.

However, I was sadly mistaken to think I would actually hear Trump’s real stance on the issues America faces. Instead, I waited in line for an hour to sit for another hour, to listen to Trump talk about himself and criticize his opponents and the media.

I have not been not a Trump fan since he announced he was running, and I was hoping by attending I would change my view. Before attending, I went to Trump’s website and looked at some of his positions to have a better understanding of his views. I agree that we need to have better services offered to our veterans and that we need to work hard to get big business in America instead of outsourcing labor to other countries. But Trump didn’t speak on these issues for all but five minutes of his hour-long speech.

I don’t understand why someone would want to vote for someone who doesn’t understand how to make Congress to work together. Congress is the body who makes the majority of the decisions. The President simply proposes what he or she wants to do, and Congress has to vote on it.

There were thousands of people who attended the rally, and many were UWF students. Current supporter of both Ben Carson and Donald Trump, UWF student Kevin Perez attended to give his support. Perez says he believes it is important for a candidate to defend their beliefs and have a conservative stance in running the country.

“I think that nations will respect us more if we have a backbone to say no to things that we do not want,” said Perez, senior communications major. “I believe that as a superpower, we should be leaders, not followers, in the world. Heck, even Putin gave Trump respect.”

Yes, Trump has a backbone, but he is not going to be able to run a country the way he runs his businesses. He cannot go and fire anyone he wants in Congress, because “we the people” are the ones who put them in office. The next few months are going to show what the citizens of the United States want, and hopefully we are able choose someone who will make a difference in Washington.